


Saw it Coming

by DenDragon14



Series: Dysfunctional Newsies [8]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bed-Wetting, Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Boyfriends, Domestic Fluff, Epilepsy, Epilepsy Warning, Epileptic! Race, Gen, M/M, Narcoleptic! Spot, No Smut, Spot is a Good Boyfriend, friend gatherings, not kinky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:53:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23556370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DenDragon14/pseuds/DenDragon14
Summary: Race had a feeling that something bad was going to happen today. The headache he woke up with said as much.Another companion piece to "Something They Can't Understand", "Sleeping Beauty" and "I'm Here for You".
Relationships: David Jacobs/Jack Kelly/Katherine Plumber, Spot Conlon/Racetrack Higgins
Series: Dysfunctional Newsies [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1608244
Comments: 6
Kudos: 44





	Saw it Coming

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy! I'm glad there are people out there that enjoy these headcanons for these two characters.  
> Anyways, keep in mind that I a not epileptic and I have read up on auras, I've tried my best to interpret that into words. I hope it is okay; I'm not trying to offend anyone in this; that's the last thing I want to do!

Race knew it was going to be a bad day when he woke up with a headache. That and there was a subtle feeling deep in his gut that told him it was going to be a bad day. At first, he wanted to label that feeling as gas or indigestion but he knew in the back of his mind that it wasn't as simple as that. From time to time, that unpleasant twisting sensation in his abdomen was a warning that something was going to happen. Sadly, he hadn't yet developed the psychic ability to predict _when_ this bad thing was going to happen. But the stronger the feeling got, he knew that whatever was about to happen was right around the corner.

All morning, it had been nothing more than a slight discomfort and it was easy enough to brush off. It was at the start of the afternoon that the twisting sensation of his intestines started to make itself more well known as his headache started to intensify by spreading from above his eyes to the back of his head. He thought about crawling back into bed and pulling the covers over his head, but he knew Spot would ask questions and the last thing Race wanted was to see Spot worried; it was almost as strange as seeing him being affectionate in public.  
  
Besides, Jack and the others were expecting both of them that afternoon for their monthly group hangout. At the start of their junior year, Jack had moved out of the dorms and into a house that the university-owned and that he currently shared with several others while Spot had moved into the same dorm room as Race. Since moving into that house, once a month, Jack liked to host a get together with the gang at the house he shared with Katherine, Crutchie, Albert and Elmer.  
  
Over the last year or so, their friend group had gotten quite big. Initially, upon starting university, it had just been Jack, Race, Crutchie, and Elmer in their group. And then Spot, Katherine, Romeo, Davey, and Albert joined in. And then Buttons and Jojo, Henry, Mush, and Specs. The blowup in size didn't matter to Jack and he invited everyone over for a movie and game night to just unwind from the chaos that was university life.  
  
A light rain had started about half an hour ago and although the sweet smell of fresh rain helped lighten his mood a fraction, the feeling that gnawed away at his gut still made itself known.  
  
"Ready to go?" Spot asked, drawing Race from his inner thoughts.  
  
"Sure," he replied, as he laced up his shoes. "You got an umbrella?" 

Spot whacked him on the butt on the way out the door with the folded up umbrella. "I grabbed mine since yours is made for children." Race whacked him on the arm and mocked offense at the comment.  
  
"There's nothing wrong with a big yellow duck on the umbrella. It makes it easier to see me in a crowd."  
  
"You're already easy to see in a crowd."  
  
They made their way down the stairs to the street and Spot flipped open the umbrella and positioned it over them to avoid the tears from the heavens. As they walked, they brushed up against each other's side playfully. Although they still lived on campus, the house that Jack lived in was owned by the school- literally across the street and down a block from campus-and apparently had at one point served as a house for one of the professors. Race tried to enjoy the smell of the rain and the sound of cars driving through puddles but his head throbbed with each step he took.

"Should we have brought something," Race asked. He wanted to try and focus his attention elsewhere. "Like a game or drinks or something?" Spot shrugged and shifted the umbrella to his other hand so he could hold Race's hand.  
  
'We've shown up empty-handed before," he said, "I don't think Jack will mind." His words were true enough, Jack was a fairly laid back individual and wasn't easily upset or frustrated unless it messed with his emotions. Plus, as of recently, Jack's newfound relationship with Davey _and_ Katherine kept him quite busy. Despite Spot ringing the doorbell, Race just waltzed on in and took off his shoes, making himself at home.

There was a chorus of greetings as they entered the living room and Katherine pulled them both into a hug before she pushed them toward the love seat, urging them to sit down. 

They played several rounds of Taboo and then moved onto Code Names before settling on several rounds of Cards Against Humanity. In between and amongst them all was happy conversation and banter and Race really wished he could have enjoyed it all. But the headache that had started just above his eyes had grown and moved so the throbbing pain now engulfed half his head.

Once everyone had grown tired of Cards Against Humanity, they switched their attention to games that could be played on the television. Albert had decided to bring his Wii system and a bundle of games that Race found rather addictive from home, which Katherine continuously said was a distraction during the school year. Mario Kart was a favorite of Race's, but with his headache steadily growing in size, he opted to sit out and watch while his friends played. The initial stares he got as he rejected a remote made several of his friends even voice their concerns, but Race simply said he wasn't in a competitive mood today.

"You just don't wanna get beat by me or Specs," Albert said, laughing as he handed the last free remote off to Elmer.   
  
Race shrugged, playing nonchalant and smiled. "Maybe. I might be a bit rusty since I wasn't playing all summer like someone I know."

* * *

Late afternoon turned into evening and some of them stopped playing Mario Kart long enough to enjoy the sunset as they drank soda and wine out on the back porch while they enjoyed the smell of the outdoors after it rains. Race stayed outside long enough to see the sun fall below the horizon before he retreated into the kitchen where it was slightly quieter and he rubbed at his temples as he tried to relieve the pain in his cranium.

He kind of wanted to go back to the dorm room, but he also wanted to stay and his indecisive brain couldn't make a decision on a good day let alone on a day where it was making an attempt of bursting out his skull. The back door slammed open and all his friends began to clamor in, all of them still animatedly in conversation.

"Any more game suggestions," Katherine asked. She pointed at Albert sternly. "No more video games. Not tonight anyway."  
  
"How about What Do You Meme?" Buttons asked. "Jojo and I brought that one. It's pretty fun."

"I've never played that," Davey admitted. "I don't really get memes to be honest." Mush slapped the tall boy on the back and went and grabbed the box from off the coffee table.

"Well now we gotta play," he exclaimed happily. "It's just like Cards Against Humanity, but with more pictures." He held the box up so Davey could read the back and Jojo and Elmer herded everyone else back into the living room. Race tried to ignore the concerned glance he got from Spot as he came in from the backyard, trailing in dead last behind Jack.  
  
He stopped at the opening that joined the kitchen to the main hall and turned back to look at Race.  
"You coming?" he asked, eyebrow raised in question. Race nodded and shuffled back into the living room behind Spot. He stayed for a short period of time, seated in silence as the game was set up and explained and cards were passed around. But it was probably after the first round that Race decided he needed to get up and find somewhere where there wasn't so much noise and activity going on.

He excused himself from the room without so much as a word and wandered down the hall toward the kitchen but instead, he found his feet taking a left instead of a right, upstairs towards the bedrooms. That gut feeling, that feeling that something bad was about to happen, was so strong he couldn't ignore it. That and the throbbing in his head was all he could focus on. He stared at himself in the mirror over the dresser and tried to get rid of the glassy look in his eyes. _How long had that look been there?_ He blinked and blinked again as he tried to pull himself back to the here and now, but it didn't work.  
  
He sighed and turned away from the mirror and suddenly the sounds around him seemed to vanish and all he heard was the pounding of blood in his ears and the shaky breath exiting and entering his lungs. Every breath seemed slowed and forced and the world around him started to blur around the edges and he caught the sudden overwhelming scent of burning wool.  
 _  
Fuck.  
_  
 _Not now.  
_  
He forced his legs to move toward the queen size bed. He was only just able to reach the bed and flop onto it before he felt his muscles begin to disobey and seize up on him and he squeezed his eyes rolled up into the back of his head. they hurt sometimes, especially considering how his limbs jerked around so sporadically; he'd nearly pulled his shoulder out of the socket one time; if his sister hadn't been there he most certainly would have.  
  
The blood in his ears pounded heavily and his lungs and heart seized as though someone had pulled tight cords around the organs. 

Then everything went black.

* * *

Spot excused himself after fifteen minutes had passed and Race still hadn't returned to the living room, worried that his boyfriend had disappeared without so much as a word; it wasn't normal for Race to be someone who had nothing to say but he had been acting strange all day. On a normal day, Race was a whirlwind of noise and motion; when he entered a room, everyone knew about it. He was loud and boisterous and overly hyper at times, but today, since the moment he'd woken up, Race had seemed subdued, as though he'd taken some sort of sedative.  
  
The change in personality, or rather, the lack of personality coming through; it disturbed Spot but he wasn't sure what to say. He was sure the rest of their friends had noticed, but like him, none of them had said anything. He wanted to bring it up to Jack, but he was busy with hosting the others while he managed to cling to Katherine and Davey as they played through a round of What Do You Meme that Buttons had suggested. Spot participated half-heartedly as his eyes kept wandering to the opening that led to the hall. He hoped to see Race soon enough but as the ten minutes turned to fifteen, the ball of worry in his stomach got to be too much to ignore.

He placed his cards down on the coffee table and got up from his seat.  
"I'll be back," he muttered, telling no one in particular. He vaguely heard some grunts of acknowledgment but nothing more than that. He poked his head into the kitchen, only to see that it was empty. A glance out the kitchen window showed an empty backyard. He poked his head into the laundry room which also lacked any human presence.

He went back down the hall and climbed the stairs and one by one, he poked his head in all the rooms in search of his boyfriend. Even though this was Jack's house and Jack was a friend, Spot wanted to avoid nosing about someone's room if he could. He valued privacy as much as the next person but he knew Race had known Jack longer before Spot had started hanging out amongst their friend group, and he knew Race made himself comfortable and treated himself like Jack's house was his house too.

So it wasn't a surprise when Spot glanced into the last bedroom at the end of the hall, Jack's room, and saw Race laid out on the bed. At first glance, he thought that perhaps Race had decided to have a nap; it was a bit odd, sure, but it wouldn't have been out of the ordinary since Spot had grown prone to having naps now and again at friends places. But then he noticed the way in which Race's arms twitched and the strange sound he made as he frothed at the mouth. The longer he watched, it seemed like Spot had walked in on the tail end of the seizure but that still didn't extinguish the worry that ignited in his chest when he saw the scene before him. Anything longer than two minutes and it was recommended that an ambulance be called and Spot had only just entered the room but he had no idea how long it'd been going on for.

Race was already somewhat rolled onto his side, however, the body position he'd landed in looked highly uncomfortable. Spot shifted the boy's weight around so that he was resting entirely on the bed and was completely on his side. Spot's heart hurt, as though someone had wrapped a fist around the organ, as he watched Race continue to seize. It looked insanely painful as the muscles in his neck pulled tautly and arms and legs jerked around uncontrollably.

When the convulsions had slowed and finally stopped, Spot knelt down and he ran a hand through Race's hair and wiped away the saliva that had dripped out his mouth while his nostrils flared heavily as his breathing began to return to normal. At some point, Race had bitten his lip, which now sported a small bead of blood and as Spot further gave his boyfriend a once over to make sure he was okay, he realized that Race had wet himself during the ordeal.

He knew Race well enough that he liked to be the center of attention from time to time but Spot knew well enough that Race valued his dignity and wetting himself during a seizure threw that pride to shame rather quickly. At least this occurrence hadn't been public; he'd been spared total humiliation but he knew Race would feel embarrassed nonetheless.  
  
Spot climbed onto the bed and laid down next to Race and listened to the sound of his breathing as it started to even out and waited patiently for him to regain consciousness.

* * *

As he slowly came to his senses his head felt as though someone had replaced his brains with gauze and his body with lead. His mind slowly cleared and as he became more aware of where his body was, he realized two things.

One, he was in a bed.  
  
Two, he had wet said bed.

He moaned in displeasure, upset that his body had betrayed him in such a way. He forced open his eyes and blinked to clear the sudden blur of the world that usually comes along with waking up first thing and tried to reorientate where the hell he was. His eyes wandered the blank ceiling and wondered when the 

The throbbing nuisance that had spread all throughout his head had disappeared, simply leaving deep tiredness that hadn't been there before, but that was never new after a seizure. His heart nearly leaped out his throat as a hand landed on his waist, startling him. He swatted the hand away and tried to scramble out of the bed and onto his feet. The hand grabbed at his belt loops on his jeans and pulled him back onto the bed.

"Hey, relax, it's me."

Of course, it was Spot. Race sighed and flopped back against the mattress, grateful that he wasn't entirely alone. It was never nice to be entirely alone after a seizure, it helped to at least know that someone else was present in the room.  
  
"Whose bed are we in?" Race asked, his voice slurred. He glanced around the room to try and make sense of the dark, polished wood furniture and the muted blue grey walls but Race was pretty sure that most of the rooms upstairs had the same wall color and the furniture was dark-colored all throughout the house.

"I think this is Jack's room." Spot ran a hand through Race's hair and kissed him lightly on the temple. "Why? Does it matter?" Race couldn't help but cringe as he shifted his weight and felt the cold damp puddle he'd made as he seized.  
  
" I wet his bed...'m disgusting," he groaned, hiding his face in his hands. Spot wrapped an arm around Race's waist and pulled him closer and he rested his kissed the back of Race's head.  
  
"I don't care," he whispered, his breath tickling Race's ear. Slowly, Race forced himself to turn onto his other side so he could look at Spot. He smiled sleepily and placed a hand on Spot's cheek.  
  
"You're just being nice." Spot placed his hand over Race's and smiled an actual genuine smile, one that reached his dark, tender eyes.  
  
"You know I'm only nice to you. But, I really don't care Race that you wet yourself."

Race smiled and wiggled his eyebrows. "Got a piss kink there, Conlon?"

Spot chuckled. "No. I don't think so. I know that what happened already bothers you. Me focusing on that would just make you more uncomfortable and I don't want that."

Race caressed Spot's cheek and smiled sleepily. "Aw, so you do have a heart."  
  
"Again, only for you." A comfortable silence fell between the two of them and Race ran his fingers along Spot's jawline as he fought off the impending exhaustion that his seizures often left him in. For a moment, he thought that Spot might have drifted off to sleep, it wouldn't have been the first time when they'd been cuddling in a bed, but his eyes had been closed too long and his breathing seemed to have slowed slightly.

He booped his nose against Spot's. "Did you fall asleep on me?" At Race's words, Spot's eyes fluttered open and Race fixated on the deep, rich, earthy brown that stared back at him.

"Does it hurt?" Race hummed, confused by the question. "Your seizures, do they hurt you?"

"Why do you ask?"

Spot shrugged, his eyes darting away. "I was watching.... and it looked painful."  
  
Race shrugged. "Sometimes, yeah. Afterward." He didn't want to make a big deal out of it. He hated to see Spot worried and how his brow furrowed and the expression in his dark eyes grow more solemn; it was hard enough to see Spot happy, Race didn't want to make him sad. He stifled a yawn and propped himself up into a sitting position. Ignoring the uncomfortable, sticky and damp feel of his jeans stuck to his thighs, Race slid off the bed and to his feet.

"I should clean myself up," he said, drawing toward a change of topic, as he took a step toward the attached bathroom that Jack had.

"Let me help."

Spot got up and wandered over to the door that led into the adjacent and attached bathroom and hesitantly pushed it open. Spot rummaged as carefully and considerately as possible around in Jack's bathroom before he pulled out a hairdryer. He plugged it in and adjusted the setting on it before turning it on. Race grabbed Spot's wrist.  
  
"You want to burn my balls off with that thing?" he demanded, eyes wide.  
  
Spot chuckled. "No, dummy. Take your pants off and I'll dry them. You can wash your legs."

* * *

They came back downstairs to find that the group was still engrossed in the game What Do You Meme? When the two of them entered the room, every pair of eyes turned toward them.

"Where did you two disappear to?" Crutchie asked. Mush nudged him in the ribs and whispered something in the crippled boy's ear which caused him to turn a beet red. Crutchie cleared his throat and turned his gaze back toward his cards in hand.  
  
"Did you guys decide to take a shower or something," Henry asked and the rest of the group chuckled. "I thought I heard a hairdryer up there."

"Hey, uh, Jack, you might want to change your bedsheets," Spot muttered.   
  
Jack glanced up from his cards in confusion. "Uh...okay?" His face transformed into one of disgust as his brain processed Spot's words. "Ugh, gross, Spot! Were you two getting it on up there in my room? _In my bed?_ "  
An ooh went through the majority of their friends and whispered conversations started amongst the majority of them while Davey and Katherine just rolled their eyes as they arranged their game cards. Spot faltered to find words as a heated blush spread up his neck and into his cheeks.  
  
"Oh, they totally did," Elmer exclaimed, "You're blushing Spot!"  
  
"We did not have sex in Jack's bed!"  
  
"I don't know," Albert chuckled. He pointed at Spot's face. "The red in your face says otherwise."  
  
"Yeah, that and you're telling Jack to change his bedsheets," Specs pointed out. "Why else would you say that?"  
  
"I pissed Jack's bed, okay!" Race exclaimed, clearly annoyed. He turned to Jack. "Don't hate me for it. It wasn't on purpose!" He brushed by Spot as he went into the kitchen where they had an arrangement of snacks laid out across the table. Spot just raised his eyebrows in amusement and smirked at Jack, who seemed unsure of what to say to that statement.  
  
"I guess that explains the hairdryer," Henry said. Spot glared at him and Henry cleared his throat, calling everyone's attention to return to the game at hand. 

* * *

Spot followed Race into the kitchen where he found his boyfriend snacking away on the bowl of pretzels and chips that had been left out on the table. Race had a sour expression on his face and judging by the pace at which he was shoving food into his mouth, Spot assumed that he was irritated more than anything. Jack poked his head into the room and leaned against the doorframe, his eyebrows pulled down in concern.  
  
"Are you okay, Racer?" Jack asked. "I noticed you was real quiet, wasn't sure what to say though. Did you have a seizure? Is that why you were upstairs so long?" Race shrugged and took a handful of chips.  
  
"I'll survive. Damn pills, maybe I'll have to try something new-"  
  
"Well, you've been stressed out-"  
  
"I shouldn't have come here. I woke up with a headache, which is never a good thing. And then I got that aura-"  
  
"What's an aura?" Spot asked. It wasn't the first time he'd heard the word, but when he thought of the definition, he often thought of it in relation to psychics and individuals who claimed to have an open third eye and all that shit. But he knew well enough, that given the topic they were talking about, the aura Race mentioned had nothing to do with psychics.  
  
"Sometimes I know when it's gonna happen," Race said. He shoved a handful of chips into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed and wiped at his mouth. "It differs from person to person, but I get this weird feeling that all external sound disappears and I just hear myself and also this awful smell of burnt wool. It fuckin' sucks. Knowing it's going to happen but it's worse because I can't stop it either."

Jack placed a hand on Race's shoulder and squeezed in reassurance. "Don't feel like you guys gotta stay. If you want to head back, I ain't gonna stop ya."

"Do you want to head back?" Spot asked. "I don't mind if you do." 

"Nah, let's stay for another hour."  
  
"Are you sure you're okay?" Spot and Jack asked in unison. He could practically see the gears in Race's brain turning as he mulled the question over, assessing how he felt. Physically, he was now fine although Spot thought that Race looked dead tired; Spot was generally the one that looked dead tired all the time, even if he had gotten a decent amount of sleep.  
  
"Yeah, I'll be okay." _For now._

He laced his fingers through Spot's and headed back to the living room and took a seat on the loveseat. Race snuggled up against Spot as everyone settled in for a movie to end off the night. Someone decided on the new Race to Witch Mountain with Dwayne Jonson in it and the room had gone dark and silent before Spot could even voice an opinion. Race was asleep within about ten minutes of the movie starting but Spot knew that had to be due to the post-ictal phase of his seizure coming into effect. After an episode, it often seemed to leave Race rather exhausted; Spot couldn't blame him, he understood what it felt like to have all the energy sucked dry from him.  
  
Being in a dark room wasn't all that great for Spot, especially when he was comfortable and had nothing to keep his interest or stimulate his brain. The movie, although entertaining, was something he'd seen before and with the day winding down to an end and the sun well below the horizon, Spot found his energy-draining as well. He loved being amongst all of his friends but he found that they sapped his energy sometimes, but that was also the Narcolepsy making its constant presence known. Normally, he hated falling asleep in public, and even though he was around friends, he hated falling asleep in front of them too; either way, it didn't matter, falling asleep when it was unintended always embarrassed him. And although he had explained it to them, they still really couldn't grasp the effects that it had on him. It was just like with Race and his epilepsy; they understood, to an extent, but they couldn't truly understand because none of them had experienced a seizure. And in Spot's case, none of them had experienced a sleep attack either.

While Jack sat and cuddled in-between Davey and Katherine on the sofa while Crutchie had claimed the loveseat with Buttons. Jojo, Henry, Specs, and Mush sat in front of the couch, blankets draped over them as they leaned against one another. Albert and Elmer were somehow both sitting in the armchair, neither of them paying all that much attention to the movie as they playfully slapped and elbowed one another in an attempt to toss the other down to the floor.

Spot rested his head atop Race's and wrapped an arm around the blond boy. His blond boy. On a normal day, he would've been embarrassed to fall asleep in a movie with all of his friends around to laugh and make commentary on, but having Race by his side, sound asleep, made him feel slightly less self-conscious about napping. 

**Author's Note:**

> Again, I hope you enjoyed it! Sorry about any typos or other errors. I was editing this for far too long and I know perfect isn't possible to achieve so, yeah... I wasn't sure where to end it so the ending is kinda random. Also, because of my perfectionism, here I am on my day off, editing and falling asleep on my computer...


End file.
